Amsterdam, NY is free speech ground zero for Anthony Constantino. The issue at hand: a 100-foot long "Vote For Trump" sign. Constantino is the CEO of Sticker Mule, a successful custom printing shop headquartered in Amsterdam. He paid to have the sign constructed atop a building owned by his company.
Surely a local entrepreneur voicing his political support, on a building he owns, in a town where he creates jobs, shouldn't be problematic? Enter Amsterdam Mayor Michael Cinquanti, a Democrat who is on public record stating that Trump is his least favorite president.
Cinquanti's office alleges that the sign presents a dangerous distraction that would impact traffic flow in the town of 18,000. In his complaint to the Supreme Court of New York, Cinquanti cites concern that motorists would halt to take photographs of the sign, which is visible from the New York State Thruway.
The building beneath the Trump sign was erected in 1903 by the Fownes Brothers & Co., a glove manufacturer. Fownes was a key component of the local economy until it closed shop in 1984. The factory was shuttered in 2010, and its prominent facade, riddled with broken windows, stood as a hulking reminder of former prosperity.
Constantino bought and restored it, along with other properties in Amsterdam.
He chose the building to illustrate the Trump platform of bringing manufacturing jobs back to America. Today, October 7th, was slated to be the official lighting of the sign, with luminaries such as Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in attendance. Alas, Cinquanti filed the code violation and an injunction that the sign must be covered. Constantino claims the event will proceed as planned.
"We've got three UFC superstars that wanted to come see it. We've got people that want to come from all over the state of New York, people that want to fly in or drive in from all over the country, really, to see the sign get lit up," Constantino claimed.
As reported by the Daily Gazette, Mayor Cinquanti stands by his decision. "They've been cited, and we'll just let that play out as we would with any code violation. I don't care what the sign says, but distracting the attention of drivers on the freeway is something that needs to be looked at, and that's what we're doing."
